US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday reiterated US commitment to Israeli self-defense, during his meeting with the Israeli leader in Jerusalem, Sputnik reports.
"For the US, a sovereign nation’s ability to defend itself is the ultimate mark of sovereignty. President Trump has said repeatedly that he backs Israel’s right to self-defense," Bolton told reporters.
He said the United States would make sure that the Daesh terror group is "defeated and is not able to revive itself and become a threat again" before pulling troops from Syria.
In a show of support for Syrian Kurdish militia in the country’s northeast, who were taken aback by Trump’s surprise decision to withdraw all 2,000 personnel, Bolton said they would be taken care of.
He promised that Washington would "make sure that defense of Israel and our other friends in the region is absolutely assured and to take care of those who have fought with us against ISIS[Daesh]."
In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for reimposing sanctions on Iran and moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He said he planned to take Bolton on Monday to the Golan Heights – a strip of Syrian land occupied by Israel – to show why it meant a lot for Israeli security.